Audit of Hanken School of Economics 2023
Hanken School of Economics passed the quality audit conducted by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) with an international team of peer reviewers. The importance given to internationalisation, alumni and corporate relations are strongly visible in Hanken’s activities. Hanken is good at capitalising on its own strengths and taking advantage of national and international collaborations to enhance its activities and impact.
Hanken has a collegiate and well-developed quality culture
Hanken has a well-developed quality culture, which is embedded in the different actors’ and external stakeholders’ mindsets. There is a sense of community and collegiality appreciated by everyone at Hanken.
– Hanken’s quality system functions well in terms of identifying problems that need fixing and developing ways to fix them. Hanken is advised to consider a stronger alignment of its quality and management systems. The quality system could also more strongly support the university in setting priorities and tackling environmental and internal risks and opportunities, says Oliver Vettori, chair of the audit team, dean and director at WU Vienna.
Hanken has a respectable alumni network and close business relationships
The audit team commends Hanken for its productive corporate and alumni relations and ongoing dialogue with a variety of stakeholders. Hanken takes a strategic approach to alumni relations and the alumni community is close and an integrated part of the university’s activities.
– As a small university, Hanken is agile and flexible, and there is a low threshold for cooperation. Hanken is strongly international and takes full advantage of national and international collaboration to enhance its activities and impact, says Hanna Maula, member of the audit team, vice president, communications & brand, UPM-Kymmene Corporation.
Hanken can further strengthen its strategic approach to societal engagement. Finding a common understanding of societal engagement and impact and a shared narrative connected to clear objectives, indicators as well as monitoring impact would strengthen Hanken’s societal engagement and impact in the future.
Work life relevance and internationalisation are embedded across all curricula
The audit confirmed that Hanken arrangements were of great value for students both in terms of guidance in their studies as well as generic support, such as counselling and career guidance and integration of students with professional life.
The education provision’s connection to work life is very clear and ties with the business community are well maintained and used in a versatile manner in Hanken activities. The strategic importance accorded to internationalisation is visible, among others, in the form of a mandatory semester abroad for all Hanken students.
– The mandatory semester abroad enhances internationalisation of the university and its students in an excellent way. It provides Hanken graduates with an international outlook, and benefits students in terms of competence development, network development as well as a broader understanding of the global business landscape and its challenges, says Crina Damşa, member of the audit team, associate professor at the University of Oslo.
To achieve its strategic ambitions concerning sustainability, the audit team recommends that Hanken considers integrating sustainability in the entire education provision in a more cross-cutting way.
Hanken International Talent initiative could more strongly spur change in the business community and hiring practices
Hanken School of Economics chose Hanken International Talent (HIT) initiative as an evaluation area in the audit. The initiative consists of services to support the integration of international students in the Finnish labour market and society. The support provided by Hanken was considered as accessible and helpful by international students and alumni.
A further improvement area is how the HIT initiative engages with external stakeholders such as potential internship employers or mentors.
– Hanken is encouraged to spur change in the surrounding business community by marketing Hanken’s international talent and actively encouraging companies to open their corporate culture and hiring practices to be more friendly to international talent, says Alexander Myers, member of the audit team and doctoral researcher at LUT University.
As a result of the successful audit, the Hanken School of Economics received a FINEEC quality label valid for six years. By passing the audit, the university showed that its activities and quality system meet both the national criteria and the European quality assurance criteria for higher education institutions. The focus of the audit was on the procedures used by the HEI to maintain and enhance the quality of its education provision, research and societal engagement and impact. The evaluation criteria applied in the audit are available in the FINEEC audit manual.
Audit report has been published on the FINEEC audit platform.
The audit is conducted by the following audit team:
- Oliver Vettori (PhD) Dean, Accreditation & Quality Management and Director, Programme Management & Teaching and Learning Support, WU Vienna (chair)
- Crina Damşa (PhD) Associate Professor, University of Oslo
- Hanna Maula (DSc) Vice President, Communications and Brand for UPM-Kymmene Corporation
- Alexander Myers, doctoral researcher, LUT University.
For further information, please contact
Oliver Vettori, chair of the audit team, oliver.vettori(at)wu.ac.at
Mirella Nordblad, project manager of the audit, +358 29 533 5541, mirella.nordblad(at)karvi.fi
